Tag Archives: Pamela Smith

A small committee to draft former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker to run as an independent for president has ties to the White House and backers of President Obama, WND has learned.

The purported committee is seeking to get Walker on the ballot via Americans Elect, or AE, a mysteriously funded, highly organized effort to put a third-party candidate on this year’s election ticket.

AE itself has ties to Obama and top Democrats, as WND previously first documented.

Last month, Walker announced he’d consider a presidential campaign if a draft committee qualified him for the AE ballot line.

Walker’s party affiliation is unclear. He served as Comptroller and head of the Government Accountability Office for both Democrat and Republican administrations from 1998 to 2008.

While at the GAO, Walker partnered with the Brookings Institution and the conservative Heritage Foundation in a Fiscal Wake-up Tour to alert Americans to wasteful government spending.

In 2011, Walker considered running for Joe Lieberman’s vacant Senate seat. Both Politico and the Washington Post quoted sources close to Walker stating he was leaning toward running as a Republican in the Senate race.

One week after Walker’s statement last month about his willingness to run as an independent on AE’s ticket, a draft committee was launched with the express goal of entering Walker’s name into nomination at the upcoming AE convention.

Yoni Gruskin, listed as the co-chair of the DraftWalker.com website and committee, called Walker’s candidacy “likely our last chance to ensure a serious and sensible third candidate is able to participate in this year’s presidential election.”

A WND review of the small Walker draft committee found ties to Obama.

Gruskin himself served for three months as a White House intern for the National Economic Council under Obama.

The Draft Walker website was registered by one Solomon Kleinsmith, who will also reportedly serve as director of social media and blog outreach.

Kleinsmith, WND found, was the founder and chairman of “Omaha for Obama/Yes We Can Nebraska